Prince Mohammad bin Naif concludes visit to Washington

January 17, 2013

Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Mohammad bin Naif bin Abdulaziz concluded a working visit to Washington, D.C. yesterday. Prince Mohammad engaged in a number of meetings with U.S. officials on a wide range of security and regional issues of mutual interest.

On January 14, Prince Mohammad met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House. Prince Mohammad expressed greetings to the president on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. That evening, Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Adel A. Al-Jubeir hosted a dinner party in honor of the visiting interior minister. The reception was attended by a number of U.S. administration and congressional officials, as well as businessmen, diplomats and embassy staff.

Prince Mohammad also met with a number of senior U.S. officials throughout his visit, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Director of National Intelligence James Robert Clapper, Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, Treasury Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Robert Mueller, and Director of the National Security Agency General Keith B. Alexander.

During Prince Mohammad’s meeting with Secretary Clinton on Jan. 16, they renewed the Technical Cooperation Agreement that was signed during President George W. Bush’s May 2008 visit to Saudi Arabia by then-Minister of Interior Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz and then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In a separate meeting on Jan. 16, Prince Mohammad and Secretary Napolitano signed an agreement to begin implementation of each nation’s trusted traveler programs and to continue efforts to combat international security challenges in the areas of cyber crimes, physical infrastructure protection, and maritime security.

The interior minister was accompanied by Ambassador Al-Jubeir and members of the minister’s delegation. The visit is part of the ongoing consultations between the two countries on bilateral and regional issues.